Sheet-feeding apparatus.



A. KRAMER.

SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.

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SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.-

APPLICATION FILED JULY29,1910.

985,607. Patented Feb. 28, 1911;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDERS KRAMER, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

SHEET-FEEDING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDnRs KRAMER, a subject of the Emperor of Russia,residing in the city of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, in the Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-Feeding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficientmechanism for taking sheets one at a time from a pile and feeding thesuccessively separated sheets to a printing press where the individualsheets are to be printed or otherwise treated.

My invention is especially useful in connection with printing pressesfor feeding covers to the assembled signatures of magazines or pamphletsprinted on a web or other press, for instance, and my invention is alsouseful for feeding sheets to a printing press for the printing ofcirculars, for example.

In the accompanying drawings Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are diagrammaticviews to illustrate the mode of operation of my invention; Fig. 5 is avertical section on the line 55, Fig. 6; Fig. 6 is a sectional elevationof one half of the apparatus on the line 6-6, Fig. 5.

The frame of the apparatus is construct ed to provide a trough-likereceptacle B for the piled-up sheets, the forward sheet resting in aninclined position, against one side of the trough, which is composed ofbars I), Z). The upper ends of these bars are preferably curvedoutwardly at 6 as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and this outwardcurve may be over the transverse driving shaft S.

The upper edges of the forward sheets may be held back by adjustableclips C or not, as the character of the paper or occasion may require.

Adjacent to the front face of the forward sheet of the pile, and nearthe upper edge, and at each side of the apparatus, I provide a frictionroller D mounted upon an inclined shaft (Z, (Fig. 6) free to turn inbearings (Z in a movable frame F. This frame in the present instance ispivotally mounted upon the shaft S, (Fig. 5) so as to be free to have alimited oscillating movement thereon, and at its lower end the frame hasan antifriction roller 7 bearing upon the periphery of a rotary cam E,upon a countershaft c, which may be driven from the shaft S by gears 10and 11, Fig. 6. A spiral spring R Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 29, 1910.

Patented Feb. 28, 1911.

Serial No. 574,479.

acting upon each frame F tends to press the roller D toward the sheetsof paper. The friction roller shaft (Z may be driven from the same gear10 by a pinion 12 on the shaft (Z, meshing with said gear, as shown inFig. 6.

The shaft (Z is preferably parallel with the plane of the forward sheetbut inclined with relation to the upper edge of the sheets, as seen inFig. 6, and in that case I prefer to make the roller D slightly conicalas shown in that figure, with the larger end of the cone nearer the sideedge of the sheet. By this means the acting edge of the roller is out ofparallel with the plane of the sheet to be acted 011. The same resultmay be accomplished in other ways which will readily suggest themselves.

Adjacent to each of the friction rollers D, I mount an idler roller G,in such position that when the lower end of the frame F is acted on bythe cam E to throw the upper end outwardly, it will move the roller D upto the roller Gr.

Extending nearly across the machine just above these pairs of rollers Dand G are feed rollers J, K, constantly driven, as indicated by thearrows, at a relatively rapid speed. Over one or both of these feedrollers may be provided an endless apron p or p to aid in carrying oithe successively separated sheets and to deliver them to the pointdesired.

The operation of the apparatus will be best understood by reference toFigs. 1, 2, 3 and at, where some of the principal elements are indicateddiagrammatically.

The friction roller D is rotated constantly from the main driving shaft,but when its carrying frame F is adjusted, (by the cam E and spring R,or otherwise), to hold the roller D midway between the pile of sheets Xand the roller Gr, as'shown in Fig. 1, the roller G will stand idle andthe sheets remain undisturbed. If then the frame F be moved by thespring R to bring the roller D to bear against the piled sheets, theaction will be to draw the upper corner of the forward sheet downwardlyinto a loop form, Fig. 2, as is commonly done by the human finger toturn the leaf of a book. The continued rotary motion of the roller Dcarries the upper corner of the sheet down under the latter, and betweenit and the adjacent roller G. Then the frame F is shifted by the cam Eto bring the roller D up to the roller G, gripping the sheet between thetwo, Fig. 3, and causing the sheet to be fed upwardly to the feedrollers F, K, which take the sheet and carry it away to the point whereit is needed.

The reason for setting the axes of the two friction rollers D at anglesto the upper edge of the sheet, Fig. (3, is that by this means I canspring the central portion of the sheet into frictional engagement withthe surface of the friction roller, while it is desirable to have theacting edge of the friction roller D out of parallel with the plane ofthe sheet, and to have only a part of the roller (the large end of thecone) bear firmly against the sheet, in order to lessen the liability ofthe roller to act on two sheets, instead of only the forward sheet, thisliability being greater with certain kinds of paper of uneven surface.

Means may be provided for adjusting the pressure with which the forwardsheet is held against the bars Z). This may be accomplished by makingthe lower or rear side 6 of the trough B adjustable. Thus this side 72may be supported by adjustable sleeves 15, while the bar 16 may beraised or lowered to change the angle of this side [2 with relation tothe bars Z), to accommodate the receptacle to different sizes of sheets.

It may be added that the carrying of the sheets at an inclination in thetrough-like receptacle has also the advantage of rendering thefrictional pressure at the bottom of the pile relatively constant ascompared with that of a vertical pile, and this renders the adjustmentof the friction roller pressure a relatively simple matter and alsoobviates the necessity for such constant attention as is generallyrequired for vertical piling sys tems in order to maintain the bottompressure substantially uniform.

Various modifications of structure which do not depart from my inventionwill readily suggest themselves, and I do not limit myself to thedetails shown.

I claim as my invention 1. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, areceptacle for the piled sheets and means for delivering said sheets insuccession, said delivery means comprising a friction lifting rollarranged to bear upon the face of the pile and inclined with relation toboth the face and the forward edge of the sheets, and means to rotatesaid friction roll so that its lower face moves in a direction oppositeto the direct-ion of the feed whereby the forward edge of the sheetengaged by the roll is retracted, buckled into engagement with said rolland lifted thereby, for the purpose described.

2. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, a receptacle for the piled sheetsand means for delivering said sheets in succession, said delivery meanscomprising a friction lifting roll arranged to bear upon the face of thepile at a forward corner thereof and inclined with relation to both theface and the forward edge of the sheets, and means to rotate saidfriction roll so that its lower face moves in a direction opposite tothe direction of the feed whereby the forward edge of the sheet engagedby the roll is retracted, buckled into engagement with said roll. andlifted thereby, for the purpose described.

3. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, a receptacle for the piled sheetsand means for delivering said sheets in succession, said delivery meanscomprising a pair of friction lifting rolls arranged at the oppositeforward corners of the pile and adapted to bear upon the face thereof,said rolls being inclined with relation to both the face and the forwardedge of the sheets, and means to rotate said rolls so that their lowerfaces move in a direction opposite to the direction of the feed wherebythe forward edge of the sheet is retracted, buckled up toward the centerinto engagement with said rolls and lifted thereby, for the purposespecified.

a. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, a receptacle for the piled sheetsand means for delivering said sheets in succession, said delivery meanscomprising a friction lifting roll arranged to bear upon the face of thepile and inclined with relation to both the face and the forward edge ofthe sheets, and means to rotate said friction roll so that its lowerface moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the feed wherebythe forward edge of the sheet engaged by the roll is retracted, buckledinto engagement with said roll and lifted thereby, together with meansto bring said roll intermittently into engagement with the face of thepile.

5. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, a receptacle for the piled sheetsand means for delivering said sheets in succession, said delivery meanscomprising a friction lifting roll arranged to bear upon the face of thepile and inclined with relation to both the face and the forward edge ofthe sheets, and means to rotate said friction roll so that its lowerface moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the feed wherebythe forward edge of the sheet engaged by the roll is retracted, buckledinto engagement with said roll and lifted thereby, together with acooperating roll adapted to grip the lifted edge of the sheet and feedit to a conveyer.

6. In an apparatus for feeding sheets, a receptacle for the piled sheetsand means for delivering said sheets in succession, said delivery meanscomprising a coned friction lifting roll arranged to bear at its largerend upon the face of the pile and having its axis inclined with relationto the forward edge of the sheets, and means to rotate said lit frictionroll so that its lower face moves in name to this specification, in thepresence of a direction opposlte to the direction of the tWo subscrlblngWitnesses.

feed Whereb the forward ed e of the sheet engaged by t he roll isretractefi, buckled into ANDERS KRAMER 5 engagement with said roll andlifted there- Wit by, for the purpose described. JOSEPH MICHAEL, Intestimony whereof I have signed my WILLIAM ABBE.

Gopies of this petent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

